Standard Chartered Goes Big on Platformification Strategy with Nexus
by Fintech News Singapore March 12, 2020Today, Standard Chartered launched its “Banking as a Service” solution, nexus. Through nexus, digital platforms and ecosystems like e-commerce, social media or ride hailing companies, will be able to offer loans, credit cards and savings accounts co-created with the bank to their customers under their own brand name.
This follows a trend of banks turning to banking-as-a-service as they push for a platform strategy. Industry observers have pointed out that in order to be competitive in 2020, the platform business model has become imperative for banks and financial institutions alike.
Standard Chartered is starting off with a major e-commerce platform in Indonesia as their first partner and expect to co-create and launch products powered by nexus in 2021, subject to regulatory approvals.
Indonesia has the highest e-commerce adoption rate in the world (88%) and piloting nexus here gives Standard Chartered the opportunity to reach the unbanked and expand its customer base in the world’s 4th most populous country. The bank intends to further roll out the service to markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East with the right regulatory frameworks and established digital platforms.
The USD29 trillion e-commerce market and the fast-growing platform businesses space are constantly looking for innovative solutions that offer customers more choice and greater convenience. nexus will help these businesses benefit from Standard Chartered’s strong balance sheet and world class banking technology to deepen customer loyalty and grow revenues.
Bill Winters
Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered said:
“nexus is potentially transformational for the bank and our customers. We will actively partner with leading consumer platforms in our markets to enable convenient access to financial services to millions of new, tech-savvy customers. We are starting with Indonesia, as part of our strategy to grow digitally and expand our business in this important, fast growing market.”
The “Banking as a Service” solution was incubated at SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm. It started from a business plan mooted by an employee, who now leads the venture with a team of over 100 developers, engineers, and business development professionals across three markets.
In Hong Kong, it is set to launch a standalone digital retail bank in Hong Kong, Mox, in partnership with PCCW, HKT and Trip.com.
Featured image credit: Standard Chartered Bank
